Indians Prospect Insider

First off, we here at IPI hope you had a happy Thanksgiving and a great Black Friday night of shopping (if you braved the crowds). Now that you are likely in need of some time to relax and digest from yesterday, join Jim Piascik as he takes you Around The Farm, checking in on a light night of Cleveland prospect action.

It is Thanksgiving, which is time when so many of us get together with our families and enjoy lots of food and spirits, watch football, and prepare ourselves for the madness that is the start of the holiday season. It is also a time to reflect and be thankful, which is something that former Indians prospect Chris Jones is there days now that he is in the Atlanta Braves organization.

It is a Turkey Day edition of Around the Farm here at IPI. In today's rundown we note a change in Tim Fedroff's status this offseason, the debut of another Indian player in winter ball, the good start to Ezequiel Carrera's winter campaign, and lots more. Before you sit down and get together with the family and settle in for a Thanksgiving feast, take a look at how those Indians are doing this winter...after the jump.

The holidays are officially upon us, and you know what? There's plenty to be thankful for here in Cleveland with regards to the Cleveland Indians. No, this team will never be compared to the 1927 Yankees, or even the 2007 Cleveland Indians, but there's plenty of upside on a team that lost...a lot. Happy Thanksgiving everybody...

Yesterday the Indians added Tim Fedroff, T.J. House, Trey Haley and Chen-Chang Lee to the 40-man roster and designated Matt LaPorta, Brent Lillibridge, and Fabio Martinez for assignment. Tony provides lots of insight and info with regard to the decisions and what roles the new roster additions may fill going forward, discusses the future of LaPorta and others, and takes a quick peak into any potential Rule 5 losses.

It was a somewhat quiet night for Indians players playing winter ball on Tuesday, but there were a handful of players in action, including the return of left-hander Nick Hagadone, who made his debut with Aguilas Cibaenas in the DWL. His performance was less than stellar, but nonetheless, it was nice to see him back on the mound. The IPI's Steve Orbanek recaps all the action as he takes you Around the Farm.

The Cleveland Indians today announced that they have purchased the contracts of outfielder Tim Fedroff, right-handed reliever Chen-Chang Lee, right-handed pitcher Trey Haley, and left-handed pitcher T.J. House and added them to the 40-man roster. To make room they removed Matt LaPorta, Brent Lillibridge, and Fabio Martinez from the roster.

We continue with our 2013 prospect coverage here at the IPI with a look at the shortstops in the Indians system. Over the past two years the Indians have built incredible depth and a deep talent pool at shortstop through a combination of trades, the draft, and on the international front, and that depth could be put to the test this offseason with a trade of Asdrubal Cabrera. Tony talks about Ivan Castillo, Juan Diaz, Jairo Kelly, Francisco Lindor, Dorssys Paulino, Ronny Rodriguez, Tony Wolters, and all the rest of the shortstops up and down the system and ranks them all, talks about their potential, and what kind of big league future they have.

Jesus Aguilar just completed his fifth season as a member of one of the Cleveland Indians affiliates. The powerful first baseman remains one of the most popular prospects in the Tribe's system, but it's still no foregone conclusion that he will one day be a member of the Indians Major League roster. The IPI's Steve Orbanek looks back at the hulking slugger's career in this week's edition of Then & Now.

Congrats to Yan Gomes and his Brazil teammates who beat Panama 1-0 on Monday night to earn a berth in the 16-team World Baseball Classic tournament that gets underway this spring. We recap Gomes' big influence on the outcome of the game plus all the other action in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic where players like Hector Rondon, Jesus Aguilar, and others were in action.

Short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley had 13 players from the 2012 Draft make their organizational and pro debut for the Indians. Tony recently had a chance to sit down with Mahoning Valley pitching coach Greg Hibbard and discussed how some of those debuts went, what strides were made, and what improvements are still being work on. Players discussed include Josh Martin, Jacob Lee, Luis Morel, Scott Peoples, Jake Sisco, Jimmy Stokes, Ryan Merritt, Jack Wagoner and more.

The Cleveland Indians announced that they have signed free agent outfielder Matt Carson and Cedric Hunter to minor league contracts with non-roster invitations to 2013 Major League spring training camp.

The Arizona Fall League wrapped up last week, and over the course of the AFL season the IPI provided profiles on six of the eight players with spotlight pieces on Shawn Armstrong, Trey Haley, T.J. House, Carlos Moncrief, Matt Packer, and Ronny Rodriguez. Not to be forgotten, we wrap up the spotlight pieces with the final two Indians prospects Tyler Holt and Alex Monsalve.

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks have both shown interest in Cleveland Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. He also lists the Indians as a strong suitor for Kevin Youkilis (no surprise).

Ezequiel Carrera continued his torrid pace for Magallanes with another multi-hit performance. Starter Eric Berger took another loss to go 0-4, but kept his ERA under 3.00 while doing it.Giovanni Soto and Matt Langwell were both shutout performers for Gigantes, while Giovanny Urshela his an absolute laser in the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. Join Jim Pete with another edition of Around the Farm...

Thursday night marked the final game action for the Arizona Fall League's Scottsdale Scorpions, and with it ended the journey for the eight Cleveland prospects taking part in the league. The IPI's Jim Piascik recaps how all eight Indians prospects did, who impressed, and what - if anything - we can take away from the performances whether good or bad.

The Indians are expected to be very busy this offseason working the phones on both the free agent and trade front as they look to improve upon what was a very disappointing 2012 campaign and put together a team that can win in 2013. Free agency will never be an area the Indians are strong players in, but this offseason there are a few interesting players that are available that are sure to garner the Indians' interest. Tony talks about all of them and more in his Sunday morning staple here at the IPI.

The sun never sets on the Cleveland Indians' empire, and that was certainly true on Saturday when 11 players played in games from Australia to the Caribbean. Hector Rondon continued his outstanding stretch of baseball in Venezuela, while Jose Ramirez scored another run in the Dominican. Andrew Campbell stole the show though, with his third two-hit game down undah. Join Jim Pete, as he takes you Around the Farm...

The Arizona Fall League season officially comes to a close with the league championship game later today, but for all the Indians prospect playing in the AFL their season came to an end on Thursday. One of the best and brightest showings came from lefty T.J. House, and Tony recently sat down with him and talked about his 2012 season, all the changes he made, his experience in the AFL, and his roster status this offseason.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!